Ludlow to Telford

 Today we wimped out a bit and reduced what was going to be a giant ride down to a more reasonable size by catching a train part of the way to Ludlow.

We set off from the station and could see high hills on the horizon, and for the next hour we battled up an enormous one, and straight into a headwind.

It's true that our ebikes took some of the strain, but it was good to get to the top, and most of the rest of the day seemed pleasantly downhill, or certainly easier.

The exception was Bridgnorth where we stopped for coffee. Up another really steep hill, and then down again just as quickly. 

From there we cycled alongside the lovely River Severn towards the Ironbridge Gorge, and parked our bikes right in the middle of the famous bridge.

The bridge was the first in the world to be cast in Iron in 1779. After that cast iron became widely used in bridges, buildings and aquaducts and it was a trailblazer for the Industrial Revolution.

We reluctantly left it behind and climbed yet again, using the very last of the juice left in the batteries on our bikes.

We are staying in Telford which is a strange place with no town centre, just large out of town shopping areas. Our hotel seems like it is on the outskirts of it.

However, on consulting the internet it says that Telford Town Centre was developed in the late 1960s and early 70s as a new town, and the Telford Centre was originally a massive indoor mall.

It is now surrounded by a Town Park and our hotel is actually right in the centre of it all!

Gloucester to Hereford

 Our morning started with an early walk around Gloucester, and what an unexpected treat this turned out to be.

We started at the docks just around the corner from our hotel. It is a mix of old dockside life, and modern apartments, shops and restaurants.

We arrived just in time to see a boat go through the huge lock, then under a swing bridge and out on to the river Severn.

Walking away from the docks we quickly found the stunning Cathedral.

Nestled behind the Cathedral in a square surrounded by modern houses was an imposing statue of John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester. It is in the exact same spot where he was burnt at the stake on the orders of Mary Tudor in 1555 for not recanting his religion.

In the town itself we found Baker's Clock. We didn't know anything about it and wondered if it chimed. We went back, but just after 10am didn't see or hear anything.

But reading about it now and being 40 miles away, it turns out that the bells are struck every 15 minutes. It's almost worth going back to see it.

All this adventure and we haven't even had breakfast or started our ride.

Yet again the ride was good, lots of quiet lanes and pretty countryside.

Lunch was on a sunny bench at Newent, and the bikes got a break leaning against a lovely building.

Hereford was good, but didn't really compare to Gloucester. Our hotel was right next door to Hereford football club and they were playing Merthyr Town as we arrived. They won three nil, but a quick check of the table shows that they lost the previous four matches and are in the relegation zone.

Highlights of the town was the views of the River Wye, a giant bull statue in the town centre, and a sculpture of Edward Elgar leaning against his bicycle. It does look as if Daz is trying to strangle him, but that was accidental.

Bath to Gloucester

The panniers are packed, the electric bikes are out and we are off on a journey. The first leg was from Bath to Gloucester and the sun was out.

It was Easter Sunday so the steam train at Bitton was getting ready for an outing.

Unusually for a bank holiday the sun was out, although it compensated with a cold wind that kept our coats on all day.

The shops were all shut too, but we found a little corner shop in a lovely village and sat on a sunny bench for a lunch of coconut macaroons.

Almost the whole journey was on cycle paths and quiet country lanes with beautiful scenery.

The best photo of the day competition was won by Daz with this shot of his bike resting on the Splatt Swing Bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

We were surprised to find such a huge canal so close to the Severn Estuary, so I looked it up and found out that the canal was opened in 1827.

It was one of the widest and deepest canals in the world, was 17 miles long and provided the very important docks at Gloucester with a safe passage to the Estuary, that avoided the dangerous tides and rapids in the river Severn.

Cinque Terre

 Our last day in Italy and what should we do? We had seen all that we wanted to in Pisa and were checking online for ideas.

Daz realised that the Cinque Terre was in reach on an InterCity train, so off we went.

The Cinque Terre are five villages clinging on to the cliffs, and are world famous for their beautiful coloured houses and spectacular setting.

 We got off the train at Monterosso and wandered around. There is a cliff path to the next village, but it was closed due to a landslide, so instead we caught the local train through a tunnel.

We arrived at Corniglia and had to climb hundreds of steps up to the village.

Then we set off across the cliffs to the next village.

Then at the highest point a beautiful mirage appeared.

It wasn't a cheap mirage, and the only food they served was oranges that they probably picked from a nearby tree, but what a view. Great music too.

Feeling refreshed, we set off down to Vernazza. Probably the most beautiful of all the villages.

Back on the train through another tunnel to Riomaggiore. Their path is called the Via dell'amore. It is almost flat, although there are quite a lot of steps up to the start of it.

The path was closed for 20 years and only reopened in 2024. It obviously took a huge amount of building to create the path and in places it is dug out of the rocks.

It is supposed to be about one kilometre long and go round to the fifth village, but it wasn't possible to get through because of a rockfall.

So we went back to look around the village and then back to the station.

Darren was keen to get the train through the tunnel to the fifth village, but I was so tired that instead we whizzed back to the hotel on the fast train.

Pisa

We caught a bus from Lucca, and 30 minutes later we were outside our hotel in Pisa. According to the hotel brochure it was located 40 seconds walk from the main sights.

They weren't wrong, and the place was packed with tourists taking photos of themselves either holding up the tower or putting their finger on the top of it.

We were a bit too cool for that, and anyway did it last time we were here, so just enjoyed watching others do it.

We had been told by lots of people that the tower is the only thing to see in Pisa but that really isn't true.

We paid to go into a brilliant vaulted building and then up on to the town walls.

They were very impressive, 11 meters tall and 3 kilometres long and surrounding most of the town.

We walked to the end of them by the river Arno and then back through the pretty town.

We stopped for cappuccinos at a tiny café with a very friendly waitress, who when we went inside to pay, gave us and a couple of other customers shots of chocolate liquor and we all downed them in one.

Exploring Lucca

Lucca is a beautiful city that was founded by the Etruscans, became a Roman colony in 180 BC, and is famed by most people for it's fully intact 16th - 17th century Renaissance walls.

Not apparently by us though as we appear to not have taken any photos of them, and this picture of a road on the top is all that I have 

I did like the very narrow streets inside the walls though, and took lots of photos of the surprising views around each corner.

It was the warmest day or our trip so far, and the first time that I sat outside in a tee shirt to soak up the sun.

After wandering around the town, we exited the wall by a secret - ish tunnel, and went to see the Nottolini aquaduct that dates from 1823. It has an incredible 460 arches.

I had hoped that we would be able to walk along the top enjoying panoramic views, but it was actually quite narrow and probably much safer to stay down at ground level.

In the evening we went to yet another cultural event - a Puccini and Mozart concert in a beautiful church.

This morning we got a real chance to appreciate and sort of enjoy the city walls, as we ran the parkrun around the whole loop.

Both pleased with our times too.